The Commentary

One lunchtime my wife and I were celebrating the decision to give London the 2012 Olympics. The next lunchtime we were stunned to hear the terrible news of the London terrorist attacks. Our hearts went out to those involved and those who had lost loved ones.

In the space of one hour, four bombs went off on Thursday July 7. Three were on the Underground and one in a double-decker red London bus. Hundreds of people were injured and at least 50 are dead. Police have made unexpectedly quick progress in their investigation, and it is now believed the attacks were carried out by extremist Muslim young men, mostly from Leeds, who acted as suicide bombers.

Political responses

Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, was in Singapore for the Olympic decision when the news of the explosions broke. Speaking on The World at One on Radio 4 he addressed the perpetrators. He acknowledged their terrible commitment to the cause of terrorism shown by their willingness even to become suicide bombers if necessary. But he said that they would never win. He said that the reason for this was ordinary people’s love of freedom. He said that one of the reasons many people come to live in London is to enjoy liberty, whereas the terrorists want to dictate and ‘tell people how to live’. He spoke to the effect that people’s love of freedom is greater than the fear that terrorism can inspire.

Flying back to London from the G8 summit in Edinburgh, Tony Blair rightly gave a message of resolve not to give in to terrorism. He said, ‘We know that these people act in the name of Islam but we also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims…abhor those who do this every bit as much as we do.’ Then he went on to promise, ‘When they try to intimidate us, we will not be intimidated. When they seek to change our country or our way of life by these methods we will not be changed.’

No change?

These are indeed comforting words and I hope they are true. However, with the ‘religious hatred’ bill being promoted by the government one cannot help but think that already they are hollow. Britain will be greatly changed if the ‘religious hatred’ bill goes through. As Christians, we are against all incitement to hatred, whatever the motive. But this bill fundamentally undermines freedom of speech, one of the core values for which this country has stood for centuries. As has already been seen in Australia, such laws will be used by extremists to penalise those who simply express their views or their genuine fears. Prime Minister Blair says that we will not change as a society, but we already are doing so at a most basic level if this bill comes on to the statute books. Surely the free expression of opinion is essential to the liberty in which Ken Livingstone rightly rejoices.

Part of the British way of life in the past has been the ability to hear other people’s religious opinions and political ideas, even strident opposition to what we might stand for ourselves, but to be able to treat it as a discussion of ideas without taking offence or looking for some kind of reprisal through the law. That attitude finds its roots in the essentially Christian virtue of forgiveness, which has formerly influenced our nation. Under the pressures of political correctness in an atmosphere of terrorism and litigation the British way of life is already about to change and not for the better. If freedom of speech goes, the terrorists are already winning.

Terrorists already winning?

Political responses

No change?

John Benton

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